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Astaria is a MultiDimensional Multifaceted Regenaissance Womban, here as a midwife of the New Earth, in support of the Divine Feminine Rising.
Astaria is a coach, facilitator, creative consultant, ceremonialist, healer, singer, songwriter, musician, and painter.
Astaria is a highly sensitive creative soul, who has been on a lifelong journey of remembering and becoming her most authentic self.
Hashimotos is the name of a thyroid auto-immune disease, a ‘life-threatening’ diagnosis that I received back in 2014. Autoimmune conditions are believed to mean that your body is ‘attacking itself’.
At the time, there was no ‘cure’ for this mysterious invisible illness, and the doctors I consulted with told me that taking medication for the rest of my life was the only way to manage the symptoms I was experiencing.
Spirit guided me to say no to the drugs and to trust in my own body’s wisdom.
I honestly didn’t even know where the thyroid was located in my body or what function it served before all of this happened.
I soon discovered that the Thyroid is like a shield over the throat chakra, and it’s in the shape of a butterfly with its wings open.
When I was quite young, I experienced sexual abuse that resulted in deep trauma. I learned that it wasn’t safe to be in my body and I was afraid to speak because I didn’t have the language to describe what was happening to me. Life seemed scary and I wound up putting on my invisibility cloak and hiding for most of my life, never to speak or make eye contact with anyone.
Just like when the imaginal cells in a caterpillar call for its transformation through the chrysalis, my body also called me into a death journey… one in which I had to let go of my protective shields and come out of my hiding place.
I quit my career as a fashion designer and had no idea what I was going to do next. After moving into an old heritage house, into the attic where a piano lived, I once again remembered my love for creating music. I used to play when I was a child, and so it felt like I arrived back home again, to the keys of song and melody. I discovered the art of sound healing, as this is exactly what playing the piano felt like for me… it felt so soothing, so healing.
Up until this point I had been deathly afraid of speaking, let alone singing. My throat chakra expression center, had been completely blocked for most of my life, and so it is no coincidence that I had been diagnosed with a thyroid condition.
It was time to start using my voice.
So I hired a vocal coach, who was very compassionate and gentle with me. I could barely make a sound at first and wanted to give up so many times, however, I stuck with it, practiced lots, and eventually was guided to go out into nature to sing my heart out. My voice became stronger and more powerfull the more I used it, and songs channeled from nature started to sound through my vocal instrument.
My journey of sharing sound as a healing modality began, alongside my own personal healing, I started sharing my love for music with others. I held my first sound bath in my living room for 8 friends and then started curating community events, all centered around sound healing, in collaboration with other practitioners of various modalities.
My voice has woven through my music and has become my main sound healing instrument.
I’ve come a long way, from being the quiet shy girl to now singing powerfully for large groups of people and guiding others to free their unique soul voice.
Changing the negative thoughts in my mind, shifting my lifestyle, choosing to walk a path that was more in alignment than the one I was told to follow, and starting to SING and free my voice were the ways in which I liberated myself from an inauthentic life.
My voice became the wings upon which I freed myself.
Here’s a sample of me singing in a public space, near the beginning of my vocal journey (btw, this was terrifying for me as at this point I had only sung for people laying on yoga mats with their eyes closed).
Hashimotos turned out to be my big ‘wake-up’ call, a deep Shamanic Initiation that catapulted me into the embodiment of my soul-purpose path.
My voice has since become my greatest source of pleasure and creative expression.
My journey continues to show me how powerfull the voice is, and I have whole-heartedly embraced my role as a Voice Midwife, here to empower others to tune into their deepest truth and unveil their authentic expression through their own unique sound.
Today, I am living my dreams, and am happier and healthier than I have ever been! My voice saved my life and now I am here to guide and empower others to know that they too can free themselves of anything!
I offer mentorship and empowerment journeys for those on the path of awakening their soul gifts. I would be so delighted to hold space for you as you discover the truth of who you really are and FREE YOUR VOICE.
Below is a chapter I wrote about part of my healing story. It outlines my ‘Shero’s Journey’…
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was told to “shut up” at the age of 5 by her school teacher.
She never spoke in class again, and rarely at home either.
Astaria became known as the “shy” girl and the quietest kid in all of her classes.
The other kids at school would make fun of her because they didn’t understand why she didn’t speak, so she had a hard time making friends.
Astaria was so afraid of speaking, that her knees would quake, her lower lip would quiver, and her face would turn bright red each time someone gave her attention or asked her a question. She felt embarrassed every time she had to speak.
Astaria preferred to hide, to be invisible, to fade into the background, where no one would notice her or talk to her.
Sometimes, while sleeping, she would have magnificent dreams, where she would be singing with her mouth open wide and powerfull sound would be streaming out … and it felt sooo sooo good. In her dreams, it felt joyful, ecstatic, and pleasurable to sing .. Orgasmic even. She felt free…
In waking life, she believed that she could never sing like that.
Astaria hid her voice most of her life… until her soul just couldn’t stand it any longer.
At 30 years old, she was told she had a thyroid auto-immune dis-ease… and that she would die if she didn’t go on medication for the rest of her life.
The idea of putting foreign substances in her body that she would have to depend on to live, didn’t feel good, so she walked out of the doctor’s office, never to look back, with the determination to heal herself naturally.
A crystal bowl sound healer she met at a metaphysical fair, in a channeling state, told her that her throat chakra was blocked and that she needed to start vocal toning.
So Astaria hired a singing teacher, who came to her bedroom where she felt safe, and she started opening up her voice.
At first, Astaria’s voice felt very weak and she could barely make a sound.. It was quiet, crackly, and hoarse.
A life of rarely using her voice had caused it to atrophy. Her vocal chords were weak and her speaking voice hadn’t developed, so it had always sounded hoarse and raspy (what she later learned is something called ‘vocal fry’).
Even though she felt discouraged and doubted that she’d ever be able to sing like she could in her dreams, Astaria kept practicing… Her vision of singing powerfully and imagining the sense of how good it felt, motivated her to continue.
She chose to learn songs from her favorite singers because she loved their voices so much and wanted to emulate them.
At times she felt embarrassed and ashamed of her voice, disappointed in the way it sounded to her, and Astaria certainly didn’t want anyone to hear it, for fear that she would be judged as having an ‘ugly’ voice.
One evening, while walking amongst her favorite ancient elder trees in a forest far in the wilderness, she heard the Earth speak to her… “take off your shoes and your socks and walk barefoot upon me.”
The sun was setting, the temperature was cooling, and thinking she was crazy to hear such things, she resisted the message this voice was sharing.
The voice got louder and louder as she continued to walk, until finally Astaria said “okay fine, I’ll take my boots off, but I’m keeping my socks with me since the soil is damp and cold and I’ll freeze if my feet get wet”
The voice got even louder… “leave your socks and your boots behind.”
Heeding the call and dropping into a bit of a trance state, the girl left her boots and socks behind.
She hadn’t taken but two steps further into the forest before she heard the voice say: “Now take off all of your clothes.”
It was getting dark and cold.
This was all starting to seem very strange, and an overwhelming energy came over her… she started to feel AFRAID.
“Spend the night alone here… with NOTHING”, the voice encouraged.
“What!? That’s totally insane! I’ll freeze to death! Besides, that’s absolutely unsafe and terrifying since there are cougars and bears that live in this forest!” The girl argued with the voice, speaking logically through her fear.
“You must learn how to work with the elements”, the voice said.
“What does that even mean?”… the girl had no idea what the ‘elements’ were.
“You must learn the ways of Nature, as She has important things for you to learn.”
Imagining herself freezing to death and being eaten alive by a cougar, the girl quickly gathered her boots and socks, running out of the forest with fear of ever returning.
Going back to her home in the city, the words of the forest lingered… she kept wondering what they meant and if she was somehow missing an opportunity by not following the voice.
Even though she was terrified, her curiosity told her to go back and follow through with what the voice had requested.
8 months later, in late spring, when the warmer weather was starting to arrive, she made her way back to this forest.
This time she came prepared… with bear spray, a knife, and a tent.
(Ok, so she didn’t completely listen to the directions to leave everything behind.)
She didn’t really tell anyone what she was up to or where she was going.. She simply left this quote on her social media page:
She stayed 4 days alone in this forest, exploring, frolicking, … and facing some of her most scariest fears, thinking she would die out there.
She spent her time in meditation, silently observing all of the detailed intricacies of ferns, stones, bark, moss, and various other plants and trees.
She sat by the river and contemplated the meaning of life and what it would be like to live alone in a forest like this for the rest of her life. She remembered the fantasies she had as a little girl, where she imagined living alone on an island with no other people, just animals, and beautiful wild nature.
Astaria started a fire all by herself for the first time in her life, from the twigs and what pieces of wood she could scavange.
She swam naked in the freezing cold river that flowed through the forest.
She climbed trees, hugged them, admired their majesty and when she began hearing their songs, she started to sing for the Earth.
These songs morphed into chanting, wailing, and warrior cries.
Astaria let it ALL out… whatever sounds wanted to come through.
Her voice became stronger and stronger as she was belting out all kinds of noises.
Being all alone out in the forest, reassured her that no one was listening except for the trees and that she could safely share her wild and free voice.
On her final night in the forest, she started to feel really scared. She could hear the sounds of trucks racing and roaring up and down the logging roads in the distance.
“What if someone finds me out here all alone..?”
Her mind began to race with all kinds of horrific thoughts, ideas and graphic images. She thought for sure she would be assaulted and tortured, left for dead in the middle of nowhere.
The moment she figured for sure she wouldn’t make it out alive, that somehow the universe had called her out there to die a horrible death alone out in the forest, pink light started to pour through the palms of her hands, forming a dome around her. She began to sing and the light got brighter, enveloping her with an energy of peace.
Her thoughts began to transform into love.
“I’m not ready to die,” she said. “I’m here for a purpose” “I’m here to share my voice with the world, to sing for the Earth, to sing frequencies of Light and Harmony so that all beings may know joy and love”
“And besides, I care about myself waay too much to allow myself to be harmed in such brutal ways”
She instantly felt safer as her fear was transmuted into love.
2 years after the thyroid auto-immune diagnosis, Astaria had lab tests done to prove that she had indeed freed herself.
To this day, she is a living miracle and proof that it is absolutely possible to heal ourselves naturally, and that…
First of all, I believe that nothing really exists outside of ourselves and that everything we need is found within. Therefore, I consider my job as a ‘healer’ to be one of holding space for you to find your way back home to yourself, your empowerment, your inner knowing.
For many years, I outsourced my power and wisdom to external ‘authorities’ because I didn’t yet know myself or what I was capable of. I didn’t fully trust myself.
It’s taken many life initiations to lead me back to my own inner power and sovereignty. Because of this, I stand in my truth as an example for others to also discover their own unique path through life… to follow their own map. Just because something has helped me along my way, I don’t assume that these things will also be the answer for you. Instead, I tune into your unique energy, blueprint, and life experience to offer reflections to help you understand and forge your own path.
Having a little guidance along the way from those we trust and admire for the path they’ve journeyed is certainly helpful. This is why our elders are so important. They carry embodied wisdom. They’ve walked before us. I know that I can only go as deep with my clients as I have gone myself. So I continue to deepen into my own journey, facing my shadows with courage, and walking through the flames of challenge. I consider this part of my job description… and I embrace it all wholeheartedly. My life is devoted to growth, to becoming all of me, to releasing what no longer serves, and to transforming into the next layers of my embodiment.
With all of this said, the way I love to work is to meet you where you’re at, with compassion, empathy, understsanding, and deep witnessing. I intend to hold space for all of you to emerge, to invite in the parts of you that have been hiding, the exiled aspects of your self that may have been locked in shame, fear, or guilt so that you can meet your self, liberate your expression, and integrate your wholeness.
I harness my life experiences, the trainings and mentorships I’ve received, weaving with my creativity and intuitive abilities to curate sacred space for the mystery to unfold. I sit in the unknown with you and invite in depth and discovery.
We work with your intentions, whether that be to heal something, to release, let go, call in or embody. We explore together and discover the unique pathway that will lead you toward your desires.
We are a team. I am an ally on your path. I’m here to see you meet your desires, to encourage you to create the life of your dreams.
I am an introvert and LOVE spending lots of time in solace. Sometimes I’m more extroverted and generally get along well with all kinds of people.
I am a Scorpio Sun, Taurus Moon, Sagittarius Ascendant.
I have loved communicating with nature and animals from a very young age.
I composed my first piano melodies shortly after I started playing at the age of 4.
I started sewing my own clothing at the age of 12 and was soon making one-of-a-kind art-to-wear clothing for others, selling my designs in a couple of boutiques before the age of 15.
I won the Most Promising Designer Award at the Canadian Fashion Designer Awards Show, the year I graduated from University, where I received a Bachelor of Design Degree.
I lived in Vietnam for a year and taught at a Fashion College, from a curriculum that I created myself, that was focussed on fashion-related English.
I have been a cross-dresser during phases of my life, challenging the perceptions of gender and having fun being a shapeshifter. I refuse to be defined by anyone’s judgments or perceptions.
I became a chocolatier in my mid-20s, and this is where I really got to know the Medicine of Cacao.
I love exploring the wilderness and adventuring into unchartered terrain. At one time I was surrounded by 5 black bears in the rainforest in Canada and felt a paradoxical sense of peace. I have moved through a lot of my fears by going into the wild alone.
I found myself in a very compromising situation in Costa Rica where a group of traveling ‘medicine healers’ tried to brainwash and manipulate me into joining their cult. I stayed true to myself by holding VERY strong boundaries and escaped the situation by hiking through the jungle until I found my way to familiar territory. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, one that showed me how powerfull I am.
I lived in Guatemala for 3 years, mostly as a hermit in a remote village, exploring my inner landscape and getting to know myself in a really deep way. I activated my witch codes here and shared my healing superpowers in a beautyfull temple space, singing in ceremony, and helping others birth their voice, creativity, and soul gifts. I also spent 3 months living in a sound mystery school, both as a participant and a facilitator. This was an eye-opening experience into the inner workings of community living.
Mother Nature is my first and forever love.
Watch the short video below to hear how I received my name…
Astaria is currently located in Costa Rica. If you’d like to book an in person experience with Light of Sound, please contact us.
Costa Rica Sound Healing Ceremony Voice Coaching Astaria Light of Sound
I had no idea the power of sound healing with Astaria. It cleared stuck/blocked energy in my body as I allowed the vibrations into me. The sounds were melodic and beautiful. Some sounds sounded like rain in the jungle which dug deep within me. I believe Astaria has a gift and her work is needed for people in healing and in our world.
Kyla Plaxton
